It's Washington Capitals hockey, all day, all night, all the time . . . or when I get around to it

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Crosby and the uncertainty of the "high ankle sprain"

That thunderclap you thought you heard last night across the NHL landscape?...It wasn't thunder, it was Sidney Crosby crashing into the end boards at Mellon Arena in the first period of a 3-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Any Caps fan who has been around for a few years had two words come to mind in seeing the play or hearing the news...

Fortunately for the Penguins, their fans, and the league, not to mention Crosby himself, the injury does not appear to be as serious as that which effectively ended Peake's career.

But the nature of the injury -- initially diagnosed as a "high ankle sprain -- is hard to pin down in terms of when the injured party can return to duty.

The Penguins have some recent experience in that area, as the case of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury continues along its own uncertain path. This is the context that probably has Penguin Nation even more concerned than had it just been The Franchise skidding into the boards. That Fleury is not back, does not seem close to coming back, and is not sure when he'll come back is backdrop to what might be concerns over whether Crosby might suffer a similarly lengthy absence from the ice, especially since skating is such a large weapon in his considerable repertoire.

3 comments:

As I've seen first hand two times (Maxime Talbot and Alex Semin), it seems these athletes seem to think they can rush back too quick only to re-agg the injury. Crosby's always been very prudent about maintaining his body so I think that won't happen.

It's a long and uncertain road for Crosby and the Pens to travel now....But something tells me I having a feeling I know the team that will get the best addition when the trade deadline nears!

It might be an opportunity for the Penguins to discover another part of their game...it seemed evident tonight with a shouout. They don't have to reinvent themselves in Crosby's absence, but they can remind themselves that defense (more than just a hot Ty Conklin) matters, and that they can play it.

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The Washington Capitals ended the 2016-2017 as one of 12 franchises in the NHL never to win a Stanley Cup. Of that group, only the St. Louis Blues (48 seasons), Buffalo Sabres (45 seasons), and Vancouver Canucks (45 seasons) have gone longer never having won a Cup than the Capitals (41 seasons). Six teams came into the league after the Capitals entered the league in 1974-1975 and have won Stanley Cups: Colorado Rockies/New Jersey Devils (1976-1977), Edmonton Oilers (1979-1980), Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche (1979-1980), Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes (1979-1980), Tampa Bay Lightning (1992-1993), and the Anaheim Ducks (1993-1994).

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